All is Merry and Bright
by Sgt.Pepperony
Summary: When Tony accidentally puts the Avengers Compound under lockdown, the rest of the team must find a way to celebrate Christmas in a way they unintended.
1. 23rd December

**Title:** All is Merry and Bright  
 **Author:** Sgt. Pepperony  
 **Fandom:** (MCU)  
 **Pairings:** Wanda/Steve (mildly)  
 **Rating:** G/K  
 **Disclaimer:** I do not own the Avengers characters. Property of Marvel and Disney. Songs do not belong to me either.

 **Eh, it's Christmas so I thought I would do some nice treats.**

* * *

23rd December

 _Oh the weather outside is frightful,_  
 _But the fire is so delightful._  
 _And since we no place to go,_  
 _Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow._

* * *

"Do I even want to know?" Steve asked when a dishevelled Sam walked into the kitchen carrying two bags of groceries.

"I thought Christmas Eve was meant to be the day where people got absolutely nuts," Sam replied. "Some punk tried to steal the damn bird off me. Whatever Natasha is planning to do with this thing better taste damn good because I nearly got killed out there."

Steve could only hold back a laugh. "Well, you're back in one piece."

"Wait until the papers get a hold of it: Avenger's greatest battle: holiday shopping."

"Better you than Nat. I don't think we have quite recovered from the Black Friday incident."

Sam let out a shudder. "Next time, I'll bring Wanda with me." Wanda, who had been sitting there quietly and not paying attention, looked up. "You can cook can't you?"

"A little," she answered. "I would not know where to begin with a turkey though."

"You and me both."

"So what is Natasha planning with the turkey?" Steve asked.

"Something involving a brine," Steve replied. "As someone whose mother used to boil the turkey, I think I am nervous whenever the meat touches the water."

Wanda smiled a little. At that point, Natasha came into the kitchen and commented, "Great, you got the turkey."

"Next year, you are getting the food," Sam replied. Natasha shrugged. "Right, so what are we doing?"

"We are getting the brine together. So, first things first, Wanda you get a bucket; Steve you get me some cloves, a cinnamon stick, caraway seeds, allspice berries, star anise, mustard seeds, ginger, and bouquet garni." Steve blinked at her as though he was just told to recite the opening monologue to some obscure play. "Now!"

"Yes drill sergeant," Steve muttered as he went to the cupboard. "What is bouquet garni?"

"No idea," Sam replied.

In the meantime, Tony was tinkering in the research and development laboratories. He was working on developing new features for the War Machine suit when Rhodes walked in holding some eggnog.

"It's two days before Christmas, and you are hunched over a suit that you don't need to tweek but are because you want to avoid speaking to people," Rhodes said.

"I'm not avoiding conversations," Tony replied shortly. "Vision can back me up."

"No, you are not spending time in this laboratory because you are upset over an argument with Miss Potts," Vision replied.

"What happened this time?" Rhodes asked.

"She thinks I am spending too much time with the team even though I am meant to be on hiatus," Tony answered.

"Well…. It's not untrue," Rhodes pointed out. "You know the whole point of being on hiatus is that you avoid us altogether. You spend more time with Pepper and actually enjoy life."

Tony shook his head. He then turned his head towards Vision and frowned when he noticed the android was dressed in trousers, shirt and a jumper. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"Oh, I thought this attire would help me blend in with everyone else," Vision replied with a proud smile.

"Dude, your head is bright red," Rhodes replied. "I would not worry about blending in so much."

"Anyway, I need to run this simulation so could you help us out?" Tony asked as he plugged something into the War Machine helmet.

"Mr Stark, I am looking at these readings, and I think this simulation may cause a power surge too great for the facility's electrical capacity to handle," Vision pointed out.

"Did I create you to argue with me? You are meant to be derivative of JARVIS and he never answered me back."

"Um…" Rhodes was about to make a counterpoint when he heard the machines around him begin to whir. Only sparks started to fly from the War Machine helmet and after two seconds, the laboratory went black. "What just happened?"

"Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the correct idiom is 'I told you so'," Vision pointed out.

Tony groaned and hit his head off the table.

In the kitchen, Sam, Wanda, Steve and Natasha were looking around wondering what had happened. "Has a fuse just gone?" Steve asked. All of a sudden, the alarms started blaring and the window shutters closed. "Okay, I think we may have a bigger problem."

"What's going on?" Wanda asked.

"I think we're under some sort of lockdown."

"Oh great," Natasha commented sarcastically.

Sam was looking at the computer looking to see if there were any intruders. However, he looked at the CCTV from all angles of the Compound and no threats could be seen. For a second, he thought that it could have been the man who had tried to break in over the summer, given that he had a suit that could make him shrink, but no sign so far and he could not get out to check.

"Okay, nothing on CCTV so what has happened?" Sam asked.

"I did try to warn him," Vision muttered as he floated into the kitchen.

"What's happened Vizh?" Wanda asked.

"Mr Stark was running a simulation and it caused a power surge and it led to a power cut. When the power is cut, the system thinks that there is an intruder and thus puts the Compound on lockdown for forty-eight hours."

"You mean that we are stuck in this place?" Natasha asked. "I'm going to kill him."

"Okay, easy Nat," Steve said blocking her way out of the kitchen.

"I guess we should call Clint and let him know he cannot come tomorrow," Wanda said grabbing her phone. Her battery was almost flat, and she just about had enough to type a text: 'Power cut. Lockdown. Don't come. Stark's fault'.

"Get out of the way Rogers, or else you and going to have that pretty head snapped off as well!" Natasha yelled. At that point, Sam had gotten to work restraining her.

"If it makes you feel better Ms Romanoff, I think Mr Stark is angry enough at himself," Vision reassured.

"Yeah, I doubt it," Sam argued as Natasha struggled against him.

Wanda sighed and sat on the counter. "Well, there goes the tickets for Natasha and me to see _The Nutcracker_ tonight."

"Yeah, and they were not cheap either," Natasha groaned as she broke free of Sam and used her stealth abilities to slide between Steve's legs.

"Shouldn't you go after her?" Wanda asked.

"Part of me wants to say yes," Steve replied. "You okay?"

"Well, it's not the first time that Stark has trapped me so not too bad I guess."

"You want to know why I am pissed?" Sam asked. "I nearly got killed by some old lady over this damn bird, and now we can't cook it."

"I would say that you should stick it in the freezer, but it is likely that is not working also," Vision offered.

"Oh god," Steve said walking to the freezer. "We're going to have to eat this before it goes off."

"I'll have the ice cream if you are offering Steve," Wanda said. Steve handed her the tub. "So what are we going to do for two days?"

"Talk?" Sam asked unsurely.

-o-

Tony had managed to survive Natasha's assault and the rest of the group was gathered. In the living area. From the way everyone stood with their arms folded, Tony knew that they were baying for his blood.

"Right, so…" Tony began.

"You can't say that you did not know this would happen when Vision warned you that it was certain to happen," Steve interrupted.

"To be fair, he did say he thought it would cause a power surge."

"Vision is a hyper-intelligent android who could perform three trillion checks in a second that would confirm that your simulation would blow the power," Natasha added shortly. "You chose not to listen to him."

"Rhodey, back me up here," Tony begged.

"Dude, I am on their side. This is your mess," Rhodey responded.

"Clint and his family can't come to stay, all the food is going to be ruined and we have no way of contacting anyone outside the facility," Natasha listed. "Congratulations Stark, you've actually succeeded in ruining Christmas."

"What do you want me to do? I can't fix the power. I don't want to be in this situation as much as you do Romanoff so give me a break," Tony yelled. "Screw this I am out of here."

"Tony," Steve began but Tony had already stormed off. "Well, the next forty-eight hours are going to be fun."

"You know what, I think we need some time to calm down," Vision suggested.

"You're not even angry," Sam pointed out.

"Yes I am; this is my angry face." Vision's angry face just looked like his regular face. Wanda had to hold back a laugh. "Think about it logically, we are going to be stuck in the Compound for forty-eight hours and while this is a big facility, we are going to get on each other's nerves sooner or later. Since we are already rather irate, I think taking some time to calm down would benefit us as a whole."

Steve took a deep breath and said, "Vision's right, we should take some time to cool off."

"I'll go find some candles," Wanda suggested. "I think there may still be some left over from Hannukah."

"Good thinking," Sam added. "Natasha, why don't you hit a punchbag or something?"

"I might just get some photos of Stark and use him as a target," Natasha replied.

"I should probably check Tony is okay," Rhodey added.

Once the group dispersed, Steve stood alone in the living area with Vision. "Are you genuinely angry Vision?"

"Well, I did warn him and I get the impression that Mr Stark hates listening to me."

"Because you remind him of JARVIS?"

"Possibly. JARVIS would not have died had Mr Stark not created Ultron, and if that had not happened, I would not have been created. I guess I am a physical reminder of what happened."

"Speaking of which, I should check Wanda is okay. It was something she said about this not being the first time being trapped by Stark."

"To be honest, I assumed that was some form of dark humour."

"Trust me when I say dark humour is a sign of something rather serious." Steve went to go find Wanda, and he found her in her bedroom grabbing a load of candles from her drawer. "Hey, Wanda, you okay?"

"Not too bad. I mean it's annoying that I am not going to see Clint I've been trapped in worst places," she replied.

"Yeah, that's what I wanted to speak to you about. You said something about being trapped by Stark. I know what happened with your parents…"

"Steve, I'm fine. It's not the most ideal situation but compared to the last time I was trapped by him, this is better."

Steve had some doubts over Wanda's assertion but he decided not to push her and helped her gather the candles.

In the meantime, Rhodey found Tony hitting something with a spanner. It seemed that tears were pricking in his eye as he smacked the spanner off the side of the workbench.

"Tony, calm down," Rhodey ordered.

"Romanoff is right. I ruined Christmas; actually I have ruined this whole year," Tony answered as he took one last hit.

"No, you haven't."

"Well, given that Wanda's brother is dead, Banner has gone missing, there is a hole in the middle of Eastern Europe, JARVIS is dead and Pepper hates me, I'm not doing too well."

"Okay, but all of those except Pepper hating you happened in a week so you have not done too badly. And I don't think Pepper hates you."

"Well, you should have heard our latest argument."

"What was it about this time?"

"It doesn't matter. It's pretty much off."

"Tony, you two have survived her crazy ex injecting her with some firebreathing serum. I think you can get through anything."

"I doubt it will be possible to do so this time."

* * *

 **Right next chapter will be up tomorrow at 3pm GMT. Next chapter of Infinity and Beyond will be up at 12pm GMT and another story Fairytale of New York will be up at 6pm.**

 **Don't say I do not spoil you.**


	2. 24th December

24th December

 _And when those blue snowflakes start falling,_  
 _That's when those blue memories start calling._  
 _You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white,_  
 _But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas._

* * *

"Right given that we need to eat all this perishable food, I had to improvise," Sam said as everyone walked into the kitchen for breakfast. To his credit, the spread seemed decent. Fruit salad, cereal and bread and butter - the only problem was that they could not toast the bread. "Hopefully this should fill us up for the rest of the day."

"At least Thor is not here," Natasha commented as she grabbed a slice of bread and some fruit.

"Oh yeah, I remember the time he cleared out my cupboards in DC," Steve added.

"To be honest this would do me until next week," Wanda said as she bit into a strawberry. Wanda was not a very big eater and the rest of the team assumed that Wanda's time on the streets had an influence on this.

"So what are we going to do?" Rhodey asked.

"Well, I have a copy of a play version of A Christmas Carol," Wanda suggested. "Maybe we could entertain ourselves by performing it."

"Natasha can be Scrooge," Sam commented. Natasha tossed a blueberry at him in response. "To be fair, it's better than Pictionary."

"Actually, we do have a load of board games. We have playing cards. We have books. We don't need technology to entertain us."

"Are we going to include Tony?" Rhodey asked.

Everyone looked to Natasha since she was the angriest out of all the group. "Why do I have to decide?"

"Because you nearly strung his intestines like garlands," Steve replied.

"I need coffee before I can make a decision."

"So no then," Sam added.

"Guys, come on, I know we're mad at him for trapping us here for the holidays, but he's going through a rough time," Rhodey said.

"Wanda lost her brother but she hasn't trapped us in here. I say that is more shitty than relationship trouble," Natasha responded.

"Can I not be dragged into this?" Wanda asked.

"I thought you would be angry at him."

"To be honest I am so past caring about Stark. He's not worth the effort."

"I think Nat still needs some time to cool off," Steve replied. "I'll go see how he is since I am the only one that doesn't want to kill him or would care if he did."

Steve grabbed some food and walked down towards the research and development laboratory where it looked as Tony had fallen asleep over the desk. Steve poked Tony in the shoulder and the billionaire sat up sharply, rubbing his mouth when he realised he had been drooling.

"What time is it?" Tony asked.

"About half nine. Thought you could do with something to eat," Steve replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, everyone hates me so…"

"I don't hate you. I think that you made a stupid mistake but I don't hate you."

"Which stupid mistake? The Ultron thing or locking everyone in for Christmas?"

Steve sighed and rubbed his face. "Tony, you need to give yourself a break or else you are going to do something bad and drive a wedge further between yourself and everyone."

"Would anyone care?"

"I would. You're my friend Tony and I don't want to see you miserable and hurt. Come on. We're going to play some board games and cards, and Wanda suggested something about performing A Christmas Carol."

Tony sighed. On the one hand, he really did not want to spend Christmas with a bunch of people who hated his guts, but on the other hand, it was better to communicate with people (even if they hated his guts) than it was to hide in a laboratory.

"Okay," Tony said getting up.

However, when they arrived in the kitchen, they were all bickering with one another over something that Steve managed to decipher as Secret Santa.

"Maybe we should do it by reverse alphabetical order. So the person whose first name comes first in the alphabet should match up with someone whose first name comes later in the alphabet," Vision suggested.

"How does that make sense? Everyone's name is in the second half the alphabet," Sam pointed out.

"Also, that would make it too easy. Wanda is the last person in the list and I am the first," Natasha added.

"That is a fair point," Vision responded.

Tony sighed and grabbed a sheet of paper, scribbled on it and stuck it in a small pot. He put it in the middle of the breakfast bar and said, "Okay, pick a paper, if you pick your name put it back." Wanda sighed and put her hand in first. She looked at her piece of paper and nodded. Sam took his, then Natasha, Rhodey, Vision, Steve and finally Tony. "Okay, we all got a sheet? What are we doing?"

"Making something homemade," Wanda replied. "It should pass the time I guess."

"I thought we were doing board games."

"We are," Rhodey replied. "Come on. I've decided we're playing Battleships first."

-o-

"It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting trees; they're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace. Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on," Wanda sang as she strummed her guitar. She had decided to take some time out to think about what she was going to do for Secret Santa. She had gotten Tony. Life seemed to like throwing this type of irony at her. She was now living in the complex that was designed by Tony: the man who was complicit in her parents' death. She now had to work out a Secret Santa gift for him.

"Uh, God I hate being cooped in one place," Natasha complained as she came in and flopped on Wanda's bed. "What are you singing?"

"'River' by Joni Mitchell. For the only Jew in this place, I don't half like the sad Christmas songs."

"I've always been partial to 'Fairytale of New York'. Not often you get a Christmas song that uses the words 'slut on junk'." Wanda snorted. "So who did you get for Secret Santa?"

"Tony." Wanda began strumming again. "What do you get someone who has enough money to buy anything he wants?"

"Knowing Tony, probably a Funko!Pop vinyl of himself."

"Who do you have?"

"Rhodey. I might just give him one of the Jack Reacher books I have no time to get to."

"So thoughtful."

"Eh, it's something at least."

"I guess I could give Tony one of my books. An Inspector Calls maybe?"

"Wow, giving the capitalist's wet dream a book with heavy socialist themes is pretty ballsy."

Wanda snorted. "He may take something from it. Where is the wrapping paper?"

Steve had also taken time away from the chaos of the board game palooza in the lounge area. He was sitting in the kitchen with his sketchpad and pencil set and drawing what looked to be an enlarged picture of a photograph.

"That is a very interesting drawing," Vision commented. "Who is it?"

"When we were getting Loki's sceptre from HYDRA, I found a photo album and it belonged to Wanda and Pietro. I just found a photograph of their parents' wedding day. I got Wanda for Secret Santa so I thought it was a good idea."

"Ah. I got Ms Romanoff and that is what I wanted to speak to you about. I am not entirely sure what to get her."

"Nat is hard to buy for. Not because she will hate anything but she never really wants anything. Jumpers seem to work though."

"Maybe I could knit a jumper?"

"Can you knit?"

"I can learn. I can memorise it from a book."

Steve nodded but his face read that he thought the robot was crazy.

In the meantime, Sam was reading the play version of A Christmas Carol on the couch while Tony and Rhodey were playing Guess Who.

"Does he have glasses?" Tony asked.

"No," Rhodey answered. Tony pushed down three flaps and Rhodey asked, "Does she have red hair?"

"No." Rhodey knocked down one flap. "Who do you have for Secret Santa?"

"That would be telling."

"So it's me or Wilson." Sam barely blinked at the mention of his name. He knew he had Vision, though what to get the android given that he did not seem to need anything. "I should probably get mine done."

Tony got up and left the room and walked to a small storage area. He found some old film reels and an old projector. He had some of his father's old films from the 1940s. He also found some thirty year old Irish whiskey, though that was to share with everyone. While they may have been stuck in the Compound, and Pepper was incredibly angry at her parent's house, it did not mean they could not have a party.

-o-

Later that day, the Secret Santa gifts were wrapped and placed under the tree and the candles were lit in the living room. It did look really nice given it was Christmas Eve, and for Steve, Sam and Rhodey, it humbled them a little given their belief that Mary gave birth pretty much in the dark.

"It looks really pretty in here with all the candles," Wanda commented when she came into the room. Steve gave her a small smile and then he realised that they were alone. "It reminds me of one Christmas at home. There was an unexploded bombshell found in the street around the corner from our apartment. They shut the power off so they could disarm it. Dad got the Hanukkah candles out and told Pietro and me to pray."

"That sounds terrifying."

"It was. Not as bad as the shell being in the same room."

"You thinking about your parents and Pietro?"

"Kind of impossible not to. I'm not going to lie, the first night of Hanukkah I sobbed and sobbed until I felt I had no tears left. That is when I miss him most. While we did celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah was always more important to us. So that's why I am not in full blown hysterics."

Steve took her hand and squeezed it. Wanda looked up and him and smiled softly as though to thank him for his reassurance and care. She took a glance up and realised there was a white berried plant hanging over their heads. Steve looked up and rolled his eyes.

"Mistletoe," he explained.

"Oh," Wanda whispered. "Should we or will that be too awkward?"

"It's up to you. I'll only do it if you feel comfortable."

Wanda contemplated it. Truth be told, she found Steve to be very attractive, but not just physically but emotionally. It would be a waste if she did not even attempt to kiss him. She smiled and nodded. Steve was the one to lean down and press a quick gentle kiss to her lips. However, he only pulled back for a moment before he kissed her again, only it lasted for at least ten seconds. Wanda felt her stomach flip and fireworks light in her head.

When he pulled back, he did smile softly. "Was that okay?"

"More than okay thank you," she replied. She was just about to lean up to kiss him again when the others starting to herd into the room.

"Okay, so I think we can make this Christmas Eve night so much better than watching It's a Wonderful Life," Sam announced. "I managed to scramble some Indian accompaniments from the other night: naan breads, poppadoms, pakoras and bhajis."

"Oh I love a bhaji," Wanda exclaimed taking one. Given how powerful the spices and onions were in the bhaji, she was glad she had the kiss with Steve before the food came out.

"Someone's happy," Tony commented. He held up the bottle of whiskey and went to the cabinet to get the glasses. "Right, I think I need to issue some sort of apology. Last night I spent some time thinking. This year I really have messed up more than I have done in my life, and as Natasha and Rhodey will tell you, I have done some embarrassing shit in the past."

"Yeah, I am still debating whether you pissing in your Iron Man suit is worse than building a genocidal robot," Natasha said chewing on a slice of naan bread. Wanda scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Anyway, I know that this is not the most ideal situation for anyone, but I thought given that this is meant to be a time of peace and goodwill to all men-"

"Doesn't that imply he's human?" Sam whispered.

"I am offering an olive branch." Tony held out the bottle of whiskey.

Sam took it and read, "Dude, how old is this thing?"

"Probably older than Wanda but younger than Cap."

Steve snorted. "Okay, I think one drink will not harm anyone."

"Says the person who can burn alcohol within half a second," Natasha pointed out. Once all the glasses were filled, everyone (sans Vision) put their glasses in their air as though to raise a toast. "Okay, while I do think that Stark is still a moron, I couldn't imagine having a Christmas without you lot. You are the closest thing I have to a family."

"And speaking of family, I never thought that I would find any form of bond or happiness," Wanda began, "but you have all been extremely accommodating and understanding these last six months or so."

"To family," Steve began. The rest echoed him as they downed their whiskey.

* * *

 **Remember final chapter will be tomorrow at 9am GMT. 'Fairytale of New York' will be up at 6pm GMT tonight.**


	3. 25th December

25th December

 _Through the years we all will be together  
If the fates allow.  
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.  
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now. _

* * *

Wanda woke with a splitting headache. It seemed to throb from the top of her spine all the way to her eyes. Last night had descended into a full-on party. All she could remember was getting her guitar out and her and Tony doing a duet of 'Fairytale of New York'.

Natasha came into the room looking incredibly rushed with a glass of water and an aspirin. "How's the hangover?"

"I have not thrown up yet," Wanda replied.

"Well, the best cure for that is food."

"All of which is probably not cooked. My dad always cooked eggs."

"Well, no chance of that unless we do it over a bunsen burner."

Wanda snorted at the image but groaned as she touched her head. "Should I get up and join the pity choir?"

"Depends on whether we can coax Sam out of bed."

"Another one of Dad's methods: flicking water."

"I like your thinking."

Once they had given Sam his wet wakeup call, they walked to the living area where a rough looking Rhodey and Tony were gathered, nursing what looked to be aspirins. Steve - the git as Sam thought - looked perfectly fine, as did Vision who was wearing a Christmas jumper.

"Well, it would not be Christmas if we did not have hangovers," Sam commented as he sat down. "What exactly happened. I think I blacked out when Nat and Rhodey were in the middle of a drinking competition."

"Yeah, I think I blacked out after the shots of Jägermeister," Rhodey added.

"That explains the black vomit," Tony groaned.

"Right, should we get to the Secret Santa gifts?" Wanda asked as she sat down. "Would I be okay to go first?"

"Yeah, sure," Steve replied with a small smile.

Wanda found her gift that had been rolled up. She undid the tie and when it revealed the picture, she gasped. The picture of her parents' wedding was exquisite. It was only a pencil sketch but the details were so beautiful - right down to the lace pattern on her mother's veil.

"Oh my…" Wanda breathed. She turned to Steve, knowing that he had been the artist. "Thank you."

Steve gave a small smile and then Tony said, "Well, it's your turn Cap." Steve found his name among the pile. He wondered what it could be since it was round and haphazardly wrapped. He pulled it open and it revealed a film reel titled December 1943. "Well, you know how Dad like to keep this stuff. I didn't donate it all to the Air and Space Museum so I thought it would be a good idea."

"Thanks Tony, maybe we could play it later," Steve replied.

Tony got his gift from Wanda: a copy of _An Inspector Calls_. It then passed on Natasha who got the hand knitted jumper from Vision (it was very badly knitted but Natasha tried it on so that it did not hurt his feelings since he did try). Vision got a copy of some encyclopedia that Sam owned since Vision seemed to like learning new stuff. Rhodey had made a decent effort of making a falcon bird out of the paper origami, and Sam seemed to like it since it was able to fly. Rhodey opened his gift from Natasha and smiled.

"I've been meaning to get to this series for years," Rhodey commented.

"I have a question: if the parents buy the presents for children, why do they lie that it is Santa Claus?" Vision asked. "Doesn't that set them up for disappointment and disillusionment?"

"To be honest, I never bought it," Tony commented.

"Yeah, but you were a billionaire: you could have anything you wanted."

"Well, I wasn't raised with Santa Claus or Ded Moroz as he was called in Mother Russia," Natasha commented. "Christmas was barely acknowledged in the Red Room so…"

"To be honest, a little magic does not hurt," Sam commented. "My nephew Jimmy is only five so what my brother does is that he hides all the presents in the crawl space in the attic, so when Jimmy goes to bed on Christmas Eve he can hear someone rustling. Next morning all the presents are under the tree."

"That sounds cute," Wanda replied. "We never really bothered much with Deda Mraz. Hanukkah was always around the same time so we knew where the gifts came from."

"So, where did this Santa Claus come from?" Vision asked.

"Well, when the British, German and Dutch settled on the East Coast, they combined the myth of Father Christmas, Sinterklaas and Christkindl to make Santa Claus. Then Cocca-Cola took over and that is why his suit is red and white," Steve explained. Everyone looked to him in confusion. "I grew up Brooklyn in the 1920s. I remember Mrs Jansen telling me about Zwarte Piet who carried a rod to beat naughty children."

"Wait, Zwarte Piet is just a bunch of people in black face right?" Rhodey asked.

"Yep," Steve replied grimly once he remembered the actual image of Zwarte Piet.

"So Santa has a servant who pretends to be someone of African descent and whips naughty children?" Vision asked.

"Well, Yes," Wanda replied. "Think of it this way Vision, Christmas started with a teenage mother delivering her baby in a stable surrounded by animals. If you really think about Christmas traditions, they are rather grim."

"But it is who the teenage mother's baby turned out to be that is important?

"Exactly," Sam replied. "Right who is up for a game of Charades?"

-o-

Sam held up five fingers. "

"Five words," Wanda replied.

Sam nodded and rotated his hand.

"Film," Natasha injected.

Sam confirmed and held up three fingers.

"Third word," Rhodey answered. Sam pulled his ear. "Sounds like."

Sam got stuck on how to rhyme Grinch and how to act it out. He got an idea and rubbed his finger and thumb together.

"Rub?" Tony asked.

They kept trying to guess the answer until they gave up and requested a hint. "It's pinch."

"Pinch?" Natasha asked.

"Pinch? Grinch. How the Grinch Stole Christmas," Wanda injected.

"Okay, enough with Charades. I have set the projector up so should we watch the film reel?" Tony asked.

"Can do. Curious to see what it is," Steve replied.

Sam sat down as Tony started the film. As soon as the film started Steve saw himself in an English bar surrounded by the drunken Howling Commandos belting out what sounded like 'Jingle Bells'. Steve was sat at the end of the bar with what looked to be Bucky and another woman.

"She's pretty," Wanda commented. Steve smiled. He took a glance at Wanda, face bare of makeup and her hair tied back into a messy bun. While Peggy always seemed to be immaculate, there was something about Wanda's naturalness that he appreciated. "You look so happy."

"That was a good Christmas," Steve replied. "And to be honest, this has actually been a very good Christmas."

"Despite me locking everyone in?" Tony asked.

"Well, think of it this way: while it would have been nice to have Clint, Laura and the kids, it was also nice not to just sit in front of the television and gorge on food."

"And to be honest, we'd all be on our phones ignoring each other," Natasha added. "This may be one of the dumbest things you've done Stark but admittedly this at least had some positive consequences."

"Hm, I guess it makes you realise what you are missing out on," Tony pondered.

At that point, the shutter began to lift up and everyone went to look outside. They had to adjust their eyes to the daylight, but the ground outside was covered in snow.

"Do I hear the words snowball fight?" Sam asked. Everyone bar Tony, Vision and Steve ran to grab their coats, gloves and hats.

"I assume that this is something humans find joyous," Vision commented.

"There is a novelty in the snow," Steve replied. "I should go out and moderate since this does involve Natasha and Sam."

Vision and Tony stared out the window. They watched as Sam, Natasha, Rhodey and Wanda pelted snowballs at each other. "I guess this sounds entertaining," Vision commented. "I should go out and join them. You coming?"

"In a moment. I should put my phone on charge," Tony replied. With Vision gone, Tony plugged his phone into the cable and was greeted by at least a hundred messages from Pepper, all demanding that he call her. He took the risk and called her. Ironically, he got her answerphone. "Hey Pep. Sorry about the lack of contact. The Compound lost power and was put under lockdown. I just wanted to say I miss you and I hope you are having a good Christmas. I love you, honey." Tony hung up and left the phone to charge as he got his coat and gloves. Once outside, he was pelted with six snowballs. "I think I deserved that."

 _The End_

* * *

 **Merry Christmas and I will see you in the New Year.**


End file.
